Me and Jeff

This story includes discussions of violence against children. 

Me and Jeff are having a real good day. Of course, all of our days are pretty good. We live out in the country and we have a big back yard that goes into the woods. My daddy says this is a perfect place to raise a son because there’s a bunch of room for me to explore. We have been exploring back there for almost and hour and the pocket of my shorts is full of stuff for my treasure box. I need to go inside now and put the new treasures away!

Me and Jeff finally get to the back of the house. We run around to the front porch. Before we go indoors, I look at my shoes. There’s dirt all over them and Mommy will yell at me if I track that dirt into her clean house. I get yelled at a lot for stuff like that. So, I kick the off and leave them out there. It’s too warm to wear shoes anyhow! Now, I’ll get yelled at for leaving shoes on the porch.

I don’t know what she expects...I’m only four years old!

I walk through the door. “Hey, Mommy, I found new treasures!”

I made a mistake. Mommy is on the phone.

“OK, Dinty,” she says. “Go put’em in your treasure box. I’m on the phone with your Grandma.”

My grandma moved away after my Grandpa passed away. They used to live on the farm next door to us. Before she left, she asked me to keep an eye on the old place and I do my best.

I walk to my bedroom. I hear Mommy talking.

“ Another one? That makes six? Seven? Oh, lord, Mom, what is this world coming to?”

I know what Mommy and Grandma are talking about. I heard about it on the TV one day. The guy on the news told about somebody who is killing kids around here. When Daddy saw me in the room, he got up from the couch real quick and turned off the TV so I wouldn’t see any more. Sometimes, I see Daddy and Mommy whispering and they stop when they see me. They are talking about the dead kids and they don’t want me to know it. They are afraid that I’ll be scared.

I’m smarter than they think I am. And I ain’t scared! Jeff is with me and he won’t let anybody hurt me!

Me and Jeff walk into my bedroom. I get on my knees beside my bed, reach under there and pull out my treasure box. I got the box from my Daddy. He had bought a pair of running shoes and I asked him if I could have the box to keep stuff in. Stuff me and Jeff find around here and stuff people give me. Today, I have some new treasures in my pocket. I found a dead ladybug, some really cool rocks, and a quarter. I take the top off the box and put the new things in. I look at the other things that are in there-my favorite things.

There’s a dime and a half dollar to go along with the quarter. There are some other cool looking rocks. There are a few arrowheads. There’s a four leaf clover, a shotgun shell, and a bird nest. There’s a matchbook from Molinaro’s Bar & Grill. Mom says that Angelo Molinaro, the man who owns that place is the biggest crook in the state of Ohio. I don’t believe her. He always tips his New York Yankee cap when he sees me and says, “Hello, my good man.” I think he’s a nice guy.

Then , there’s my best treasure. Jodi Nelson, the prettiest girl at our church, maybe the prettiest girl in America, gave me one her senior pictures. It is a really great picture. I take it out of the box and look at it for a few minutes.

Jodi has long, blonde hair and big blue eyes. She has the prettiest smile I have ever seen. Daddy said her smile would stop traffic and told me not to tell Mommy he said that. I promised. The picture was taken on the bank of Cold Creek. She is sitting on a rock in her cheerleader uniform. Her shoes and socks are on the rock beside her and she is dipping her toes into the water. When she gave me the picture, I told her that I like wading in the creek. She said sometime we would have to wade together. I bet we will. She’s really nice to me.

I put the picture back in the treasure box and put the lid back on top. Then I scoot the box back under my bed. I have thought of something else to do.

“Hey, Jeff,” I say, “let’s go over to Grandma’s farm and look around. Last time, I was there, I saw some baby rabbits!”

Since it’s hot outside, I pull my socks off and go barefoot. I put the socks under the bed. If Mommy finds them under there, she won’t be happy.

“Dinty, there’s a place for everything and everything should be in it’s place!” she always says.

I don’t know what she expects….I’m only four years old!

“Jeff, you can go barefoot, too,” I say.

Jeff keeps his hiking boots on. He never takes them off.

Me and Jeff leave the house. We run across the front yard and the field where my Grandpa used to plant tobacco before he went to Heaven. I saw the rabbits in the back yard. We go back there and look around. The mama rabbit must have taken her babies into the woods. I don’t see them anywhere.

“Well, shoot, they ain’t here, Jeff!”

Jeff doesn’t say anything. Jeff don’t talk much. I guess that’s the reason Mommy and Daddy don’t think he’s real.

I look around the back yard. I am hoping I find some treasures back here. I guess Grandma didn’t leave anything behind because I don’t find anything. That’s when I hear somebody driving into the driveway.

“Jeff,” I say, “we better tell whoever that is that this is private property!”

We walk around the house to the front yard. There’s an old brown van parked in the driveway. It’s in bad shape, lots of rust. Daddy would say that a man who doesn’t take any pride in his vehicle probably doesn’t take any pride in himself.

“Hey! Who are you?” I holler. I’m trying to sound like I’m older than I am.

The strangest thing happens. The driver’s side door opens and a clown climbs out! I’ve never seen a clown in real life, only on TV. My cousin Millie is 16 years old and she says clowns scare her to death, but they don’t scare me! I like them!

The clown bows and does a cartwheel. I laugh and clap.

“ I am Chuckles the Clown!” he says. His voice is funny. “who might you be, my young friend?”

“My name is Rex David Stoneking,” I tell him. “My mommy and Daddy call me “Dinty”, ‘cause Daddy says I can eat my weight in Dinty Moore beef stew.”

Shoot, I forgot! Mommy always says never to tell a stranger my name and I forgot! She’ll be mad!

I don’t know what she expects...I’m only four years old!

“Dinty, would you like to go see my circus?” Chuckles asks. “I have lions, tigers, bears, and the eighth wonder of the world, Elmo, the Dancing Elephant! Hop in the van and I’ll take you!”

“No! My mommy says not to go nowhere with strangers and you are a stranger!” I am yelling. Even a clown should know that little boys can’t go away with people they don’t know!

“C’mon, Dinty,” he says. He has lost his funny voice. Now, he sounds rough and mean!

Chuckles grabs my arm and starts pulling me toward his van. He’s hurting my arm and as he pulls me, my bare feet get pulled onto the gravel and that hurts, too!

“Owww! Jeff, he’s hurting me!”

“C’mon, you brat! Don’t cause trouble! And stop yelling!There’s nobody here!”

He’s wrong...Jeff is here and he looks mad! Jeff walks over and grabs the clown by the front of his clown costume! Chuckles lets go of my arm! Jeff lifts the clown over his head and throws him into the windshield of the rusty van! The glass breaks and chuckles slides off of the front of the vanand falls down on the gravel.

That’s when Jeff starts stomping on the crazy clown! I hear a cracking noise as Jeff stomps up and down on Chuckles! It almost looks like some funny dance, but I don’t laugh because I think maybe that cracking noise is bones breaking! For a minute or two, the clown squirms around like a worm on a fishing hook. Then, he stops moving. Jeff stops stomping and backs away. He reaches out and takes my hand. Me and Jeff walk back to my house. I start crying. I don’t know what else to do. All I know is that crazy clown was trying to hurt me and I want my Mommy.

Jeff and me go back home. By the time we get there, I’m crying so hard that I really can’t tell Mommy what happened. Mommy makes a phone call. After that, she takes me over to her rocking chair and holds me in her lap. She rocks me and kisses me on top of my head. She keeps calling me “my sweet, brave boy.”

Jeff sits in a corner of the living room. He’s sucking his thumb. He’s too big and strong to be doing that, but if that’s what he wants, I guess it’s okay.

The men in suits come not long after that. The white guy is older and bald headed and doesn’t seem to be very nice. His name is Detective Lannigan. He acts like he doesn’t talk to kids very much. I bet he isn’t a daddy. The black guy is Detective Givens. He’s nicer and I’ll bet he has kids. He calls me, “little buddy” and I like him.

I try to tell them what happened, but when I get to the part where Chuckles grabbed me, I start crying again. I feel like a baby, but I can’t help it! Mommy holds me tight and tells me it’s going to be just fine.

“Look, can you at least tell me what happened to the clown, Rex David?” Lannigan says. “ He looks like a train ran over him!”

“It was Jeff! Jeff gave him a big old bodyslam and stomped him with his hikin’ boots! Jeff protected me!” I yell the words.

“Ma’am, can you tell me who Jeff is?” Given asks.

“Well, he has an imaginary friend named Jeff,” Mommy says. I can tell she doesn’t believe my best friend is real.

“He is too real!” I say and I point at Jeff. “See him over there?”

Lannigan makes the noise that Daddy makes when he’s unhappy, like air going out of a balloon. He doesn’t even look over there. Givens walks over to the spot I point at and looks around or acts like he is. Jeff acts like he’s shy and puts his hands over his face. Givens is right beside Jeff. He could reach out and touch him, but he doesn’t do it.

“Don’t ya see Jeff?” I ask the detective.

“I’m sorry, little buddy, I really don’t see anybody!”

Daddy comes home after that. He hugs me and keeps asking if I’m alright. I keep saying that I am. He says “I love you, Dinty!” over and over.

Honestly, I believed him the first time.

The detectives stay around for awhile. I get tired of listening to them and lie down on the love seat in the living room. Jeff isn’t around. I’m not sure where he went.

I can hear Lannigan speaking to my parents.

“Look, we have enough evidence in that van to prove he’s responsible for the rest of the kids. I do wish we know exactly what happened, but, the main thing is that no more children will die.”

Givens spoke up: “Yeah, that piece of trash has made his last killing! He got what was coming to him. If God is good, he’s frying like a hot dog in hell right now!”

“I heard that!” Daddy says.

“Still, I don’t like loose ends,” Lannigan says, “I do wish I had a more reliable witness!”

I don’t know what he expects...I’m only four years old!